Card table



Aug. 10, 1937. c. c. WILLSON CARD TABLE Filed June 5, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

Patented Aug. 10, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 10 Claims.

This invention relates to card tables and other types of tables having folding legs, and more particularly to a construction whereby the legs of the table may be quickly moved to either their folded position or table supporting position.

Card tables as commonly constructed have a square, hollow frame to which a top of thin stiff material is secured, and in the cheaper tables the top is formed of beaver-board or other thin sheet material, while in the more expensive tables the top is formed of thin wood reinforced by strips secured to the under face of the top. When the table top is formed of thin fibrous material such as beaver-board the legs must be pivotally mounted upon the frame alone, since it is not practical to secure the leg supporting means to such thin fibrous top.

It is therefore usual in the construction in which the legs of the table are supported from the frame alone to pivotally mount the legs so that one leg will fold alongside each of the four sides of the table frame, but when this leg construction is employed it is necessary to turn the table around to several different positions in order to conveniently grasp the. different legs and move them to or from the folded position.

The present invention relates to a simple and cheap card table construction in which the legs are connected in pairs so that all four legs may be quickly and easily moved to either the folded position or table supporting position without the necessity of turning the table around and grasping each leg.

An important feature of the present invention resides in inclined braces for holding the table legs in the open or table supporting position, and in means adapted to release simultaneously a pair of said braces so that two legs may be moved simultaneously to their folded or closed position.

4 A more specific feature of the invention resides in a table provided with folding legs connected to be operated in pairs and having inclined braces that hold the legs open and are adapted to lie alongside the legs when the legs are closed, and

45 in manually operable means for simultaneously releasing two braces so that the pair of connected legs may be folded together.

Other features of the invention and novel combination of parts in addition to the above will be 50 hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings which illustrate one good practical form of the invention.

I In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a card table 55 constructed in accordance with the present invention, a portion of the table top being broken away;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan view of the table showing the legs in their closed position;

Figure 3 on a larger scale is a transverse sec- 5 tional view through a brace-receiving housing;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Figure 5 is a side view of a portion of the table showing a leg in full lines in the table-supporting position and in dotted lines in a partly folded position; and

Figure 6 is a perspective view of means for connecting a transverse brace to a table leg.

The means of the present invention for retaining the legs in the open position and for releasing the legs so that they may be moved to the folded or closed position may be employed upon various types of tables but is designed more particularly for use upon tables having the legs connected to operate in pairs. The invention has been illustrated as applied to the type of card table in which the top structure consists of a hollow frame formed of the four sides [0, and has a table top ll of thin sheet material secured thereto. The construction of the table top, however, is not an essential part of this invention.

The legs l2 of the. table are rigidly connected to operate in pairs so that they may be easily and quickly moved to and from the closed position of Fig. 2, and a simple and strong construction for rigidly connecting a pair of legs l2 comprises a transverse bar l3 spaced inwardly from the pivoted ends of the legs just far enough to clear the means that pivotally support the legs. The ends of the bars 13 may be rigidly connected to the legs by the U-shaped straps I 4 which fit snugly around the legs and extend along the transverse bars l3 a short distance, as shown, and the straps are secured to the legs and bars by rivets l 5. 0

The legs [2 are pivotally mounted to lie side by side when folded along two of the four sides ill of the hollow frame, and it will be noted that one leg of a connected pair lies relatively close to a side l0 while the other leg of that connected pair is spaced inwardly from .a side of the table far enough to clear the adjacent folded leg. To secure this arrangement one leg of each pair of connected legs is spaced from a side II] by a thick Washer I6 and the pivoted end of this leg lies between the washer I6 and an angle bracket ll secured to the frame In by a rivet [8. A pivot pin l9 extending through the bracket I'I, leg l2, washer I6 and frame l0 forms a firm pivotal mounting for the leg.

The other leg of a connected pair, in the construction shown, is received between the spaced walls of a U-shaped bracket 20 which bracket is rigidly secured to the frame ID at some distance from the table corner by a rivet 2 l, and the leg is pivotally secured to this bracket by the pivot pin 22.- It will be seen from the foregoing that one pair of connected legs are pivotally secured to one side frame it) and the other pair of connected legs are pivotally secured to the opposite frame l and that the legs move toward each other as they are folded.

In accordance with the present invention each leg is provided with a pivoted brace 23 that extends in an inclined position between the top structure and leg when the latter is in the open position. The braces 23 for the two legs l2 that lie close tothe table sides are pivotally secured to the sides M3 by rivets 24. The other two braces 23 when folded lie between a pair of legs, and they are each secured by a pivot pin 25 to one wall of a U-shaped bracket 25 which bracket is secured to a side ill by a rivet 27. The arrangement is such thatwhen a leg is folded it lies in a bracket 26.

In order that the legs I 2 may be quickly moved to the open or table supporting position and quickly folded, it is important that means be provided for automatically locking the legs in the open, position as they are swung to this position, and that means also be provided for quickly unlocking the legs when they are to be folded. This is accomplished in accordance with the embodiment of the invention shown by providing each leg i2 with a housing 28 that is pivotally secured to its leg by a screw or pin 29. This housing is U-shaped in cross section and is so designed that it performs three distinct functions. It serves (1) to slidably receive and guide the brace 23, (2) tocooperate with a spring to be described to hold a notch 39 of the brace 23 in locking en.- gagement with the screw 29, and (3) to operate in a manner to be described to trip or unlock the brace.

The housing 28 is long enough to extend along the brace 23 a substantial distance from the screw 29 toward the pivoted end of the brace, and. a blade spring 3i secured inside the housing 28 against a wall thereof by the rivet 32 acts to engage the notch 30 of the brace with the screw 29. Pivotally secured to the end of the housing remote from the screw 29 is a tripping link 33 which is provided with the ends 35 adapted to pass through holes in the sides of the housing and extend into abutting engagement with each other to form a bridge between the side walls of "the housing at this point to engage the edge of the brace 23. When it is desired to trip or unlock a brace 23 to' release a leg this is readily done by pulling upon the link 33 to rock the housing in a direction to force the notch 30 out of engagement with the screw 29.

Since in the constructionshown the legs are connected to operate in pairs, it is important that the two braces 23 holding the legs in the open positionbe'released simultaneously. This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by providing a connection between the two brace releasing links 33 of a pair of connected legs so that these two links may be simultaneously'p'ulled to trip the braces 23. This is accomplishedby providing a strong cord or light flexible cable 35 having its ends secured to the links 33 as shown'and its intermediate portion extends along the connecting bar 13 and around the pulleys 35 to extend lengthwise of the fees to the links. The pulleys 36 may be rotatably mounted upon the straps M by staples 3'! one leg of which rotatably supports the pulley and the other leg prevents the cable from being disengaged from its pulley.

The arrangement is such that when the legs are to be folded it is simply necessary to engage the cables 35 and flex an intermediate portion of each cable away from the bar it to thereby release all four braces 23 at the same time. By

using both hands the two cables are easily operated simultaneously and all four legs of the table can be folded at once. When the table is to be set up ready for use all four legs may be moved to the open position simultaneously by grasping one leg of one pair with one hand and one leg of the other pair with the other hand and swinging all four legs simultaneously to the open position. The stiffness of the table legs may be increased by providing each pair of connected legs with a brace 32 extending between the bar l3 and the leg l2 having the pivoted support 20.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A card table comprising in combination, a top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto to fold within the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting the legs to operate in pairs, abrace for each leg and arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open and to lay alongside the leg when the latter is closed, means upon each leg for slidably receiving a brace, means whereby each brace locks its leg in the open position, and means extending lengthwise of and mounted upon each connecting bar and operable to release the locked braces for the pair of legs connected by a bar.

2. A card table comprising in combination, a top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto to fold within the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting the legs to operate in pairs, a brace for each leg and arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open and to lay alongside the legwhen the latter is closed, means whereby each brace locks its leg in the open position, and operating means mounted upon and extending along each transverse bar and adapted to be manually operated to release the braces locking such pair of legs.

3. A card table comprising in combination, a top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto to fold. within the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting the legs to operate in pairs, a brace for each leg and arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open and to lay alongside the leg when the latter is -closed, means whereby each brace locks its leg in the open position, and a flexible connection mounted upon and extending along each transverse bar and adapted to be manually flexed away from said bar to release the braces locking such pair of legs in the open position.

4. A card table comprising in combination, a top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto. to fold within the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting the legs to operate in pairs, a brace for each leg and arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open andto lay alongside the leg when the latter is closed, means whereby each brace locks its leg in the open position, and a cable mounted upon and extending along each transverse bar and adapted to be manually flexed away from said bar to release the braces locking said pair of legs in the open position.

5. A card table comprising in combination, a top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto to fold within the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting the legs to operate in pairs, a brace for each leg and arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open and to lay alongside the leg when the latter is closed, a housing mounted upon each leg for slidably receiving its brace and operable to hold the brace in the leg locking position and also operable to release the leg from said locking position, and means connecting the housings for a pair of connected legs and manually operable to simultaneously move both housings to thereby release said legs.

6. A card table comprising in combination, a top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto to fold within the top structure, a brace for each leg arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open and to move into parallel relation with the leg when the latter is closed, a housing pivotally mounted upon each leg for slidably receiving its brace and operable to be moved about its pivot to release said brace, and a connection between two of said housings and adapted to be actuated to simultaneously release two legs.

'7. A card table comprising in combination, a, top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto to fold Within the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting the legs to operate in pairs, a brace for each leg arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open and to lay alongside the leg when the latter is closed, a housing pivotally mounted upon each leg for slidably receiving its brace and operable to be moved about its pivot to release said brace, and a connection between the housings for a pair of connected legs and adapted to be actuated to simultaneously release both legs.

8. A card table comprising in combination, a top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto to fold within the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting the legs to operate in pairs, a brace for each leg pivotally connected to said top structure and slidably connected to its leg and arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open and operable to lock the leg in the table supporting position, means movable with and extending along the bar connecting a pair of legs and adapted to be manually operated to simultaneously release the locking braces for a pair of connected legs.

9. A card table comprising in combination, a top structure, legs pivotally secured thereto to fold within the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting the legs to operate in pairs, a brace slidably connected to each leg and arranged to extend in an inclined direction between the top structure and its leg when the latter is open and operable to lock the leg in the table supporting position, pull means extending lengthwise of each leg and along said bar and operable from a single point to simultaneously release the locking braces for a pair of connected legs.

10. A table comprising in combination, a top structure, four supporting legs pivotally secured to the top structure, transverse bars rigidly connecting said legs to operate in pairs, an inclined brace associated with each leg to hold it in the table supporting position and adapted to move relative to the leg and to lay alongside said leg when the latter is folded, separate locking means ,for each leg cooperating with its inclined brace, and manually operable means extending between said locking means for a pair of connected legs :and adapted to be actuated from a selected point to simultaneously release the inclined braces for :a pair of connected legs so that the legs may be folded.

CHARLES C. WILLSON. 

